Yahoo Finance Manchester United’s Premier League schedule hits Liverpool, West Ham, Tottenham’s Champions League hopes
Manchester United’s rivals would usually be celebrating a defeat for the Red Devils - but Tuesday’s loss to Leicester City was bad news for Liverpool, West Ham and Tottenham.
United were forced to postpone their game against Liverpool on May 2 due to fan protests at Old Trafford - and that rescheduling caused a fixture pile-up for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The Red Devils were handed three Premier League games within the space of five days, starting at Aston Villa (May 9), then Leicester (May 11) before the rearranged game against Liverpool (May 13).
Solskjaer blasted the Premier League over the schedule, and claimed it would be impossible to field a full-strength XI for all three games.
Having lost captain Harry Maguire to injury during the 3-1 win at Villa, Solskjaer fielded a heavily rotared lineup with 10 changes to his side.
While United went into half-time level with Leicester, the visitors’ quality told after the break as Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes left Old Trafford with a 2-1 win.
That result is a huge boost to Leicester’s Champions League qualification hopes, but bad news for West Ham, Liverpool and Spurs, who are all chasing a top-four finish.
Top four race as it stands
Fifth-place West Ham must win their final three games and hope Leicester slip up in their remaining matches against Chelsea and Tottenham.
Liverpool, in sixth place, might have a better shot as the deposed champions have four games left.
If Liverpool win all of them, Leicester would likely need to pick up four points against Chelsea and Spurs.
As for Spurs, they must realistically win every game and hope Chelsea lose all of theirs.
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